Pass the Salt, Please!

1072 Words3 Pages

Salt acts as a biologically, necessary nutrient for human growth and development. If human beings did not give a damn about salt’s importance, our world would be filled with bland food, filthy water, and deadly disease. History’s first written records of salt appeared in China, around 4,700 years B.C.E. Salt played a major role in ancient history, especially in Roman and Egyptian cultures. Citizens of Rome and Egypt commonly used salt as trade goods, currency for soldiers, religious offerings, and even used in the process of mummification. Modern day chemists found several important ways to use salt. People use sodium today for softening water for drinking, flavoring foods, and for treatment of various medical conditions. Humans and animals with warm blood need salt to live and function properly. Salt serves as an extraordinary resource to the word in various ways.

“Sodium chloride: Noun. Also called: salt or common table salt; a soluble colourless crystalline compound occurring naturally as halite and in sea water: widely used as a seasoning and preservative for food and in the manufacture of chemicals, glass, and soap. Formula: NaCl” (Collins, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sodium chloride)

Around 2.6% of the Earth’s crust comprises of sodium chloride. Earth’s oceans naturally produce salts from the earth’s crust. Underwater volcanic rock formations shift and erode causing salts and minerals from the sediment to dissolve into the oceans. This process gives water a “salty” taste. Drinking water from the oceans causes health problems such as dehydration and hypertension. Ocean water contains bacteria and harmful minerals, rendering it unsafe to drink. Humans use salt to soften water, which makes it safe for con...

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... serious harm to humans and the environment. Education of salt is vital to everyone, and should not be taken lightly. One pinch over the normal amount of salt can have fatal effects. Spreading knowledge of salt can eventually lead to less disease, healthier habits, and a cleaner environment. People should give a damn about salt.

Works Cited

"Cargill.com." Cargill: International Producer and Marketer of Food, Agricultural, Financial and Industrial Products and Services. Web. 27 Feb, 2012. .

"Sodium chloride." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 27 Feb. 2012. .

^ Maton, Anthea (1993). Human Biology and Health. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-981176-1.

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